1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to electronic payments, and more particularly, to systems and methods for making payments at a point of sale.
2. Related Art
More and more consumers are purchasing items and services over electronic networks such as, for example, the Internet. Consumers routinely purchase products and services from merchants and individuals alike. The transactions may take place directly between a conventional or on-line merchant or retailer and the consumer, and payment is typically made by entering credit card or other financial information. Transactions may also take place with the aid of an online or mobile payment service provider such as, for example, PayPal, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. Such payment service providers can make transactions easier and safer for the parties involved. Purchasing with the assistance of a payment service provider from the convenience of virtually anywhere using a mobile device is one main reason why online and mobile purchases are growing very quickly.
However, financial transactions such as those conducted at a point of sale (POS) location generally require the provision by the customer of a physical form of payment that typically includes cash, a check, or a transaction card such as a credit card, a debit card, or gift card. Such conventional transactions are inefficient and introduce delays with the purchase of products and/or services at the POS location. In some embodiments that include POS locations include, for example, parking services, transportation services, restaurants, retail stores, etc. paying with a physical form of payment may delay the completion of the transaction as a result of the inability of the merchant to rapidly process the transaction. For example, in a restaurant, a customer will generally may have to wave down or wait for a busy server in order to provide a credit card for payment of the bill, then wait for the credit card to be processed, then wait for a receipt, etc. These delays are undesirable for the customer and time-consuming for the merchant, and may lead to decreased profits for the restaurant due to the resulting inefficiency in the turnover of tables.
In another embodiment, certain POS locations require “smart” POS devices to process payments, such as those made using transaction cards. For example, POS devices may need to be secure in order to communicate and possibly process sensitive financial information used to make the payment, which makes the devices costly to implement and maintain for the merchant. From the consumer side, such POS devices can be inconvenient, as they typically required the customer to make a payment at a centralized POS device that is typically remote to the product or service that is being purchased, such as, for example, when a consumer purchases the use of a parking space, a bus/train seat, a movie seat, etc.
Thus, there is a need for an improved point of sale payment system.